


Pinky Promise

by Inky_Scribbles



Series: Squad: PWND [1]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Again, First Meetings, Gen, Metahumans, Pinky promise, friends - Freeform, im sorry if it's really that bad I'll go back and change it, learning to control your powers, no editing we die like robins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 19:31:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15803115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inky_Scribbles/pseuds/Inky_Scribbles
Summary: What he sees is not... Well, it's certainly not what he expected. He's seen people do similar things, (heck, he's a superhero, he's seen people do way more impressive things) but it's not really any less of a shock to see a boy walking across the ceiling like it's as normal as crossing the street.ORAll Dick was trying to do was go home. That was it. But no, he justhadto go and discover a hidden meta in Gotham Academy's storage building. Honestly, what did he expect?





	Pinky Promise

"Grayson! It's your turn to take the trash out."

Dick considered pretending not hear the call— after all, the team did have training later today, and with Wonder Woman, no less. Batman and Black Canary were great and all, they were good teachers, but... Wonder Woman. Even the villains admired her. He couldn't miss that. In fact, he'd much rather be early, especially if he wanted to be at the top of his game.

But... it _was_ school, and he had an obligation to it, no matter his evening occupations. And Mr. Branwell had eyes at the back of his head, anyway. It wasn't as though it would take that long, it was just inconvenient. And in any case, Aunt Diana would forgive him if he wasn't quite on time. No biggie.

So he stepped reluctantly away from the doorframe, going to the big recycling bins that had been installed by Wayne industries. The idea was in part to help with global warming, but also to make sure that kids stayed humble and took care of the bins and what was put inside them. That was one of the reasons why the students had to empty the bins once a week, and not the paid cleaners. He pulled paper bag from the paper-bin (heaped with scrunched-up failed assignments) and the plastic one from the plastic-bin (mostly filled with expensive juice bottles), and heaved them away.

The back of the school was the kind of place where, had it been just a public school, it would have stunk worse than Gotham's sewers (Dick would know; he'd been there). As it was, the haze of pot spruced up the otherwise unscented quite thickly. He doubted the rich kids had even waited until the end of class to come down and smoke a joint. Still, he appreciated the cleaners' attempt.

He dumped the bags in their respective skips as quickly as possible, slinging his bag over one shoulder and loosening his tie as he went. The school's dress code required neatly slicked hair, pristinely tucked shirts, and well-pressed slacks for the boys, and from the sparse kids still hanging around on campus, most despised this rule as much as Dick did. Their ties hung limply over their shoulders, shirts sagging over their waists and hair ruffled free of hairspray and mousse. Dick followed in suit, working all of the mousse out until it was back to its usual windswept fashion. 

As he crossed the well-tended lawns of the campus, (which was maybe a little more large and extravagant than it really needed to be) he kept his head down as much as possible. While those left unoccupied out here were probably either higher than Mount Everest or only waiting for a lift, it helped not to stick out as a target to any potential... antagonisers.

The campus was made up of four main buildings: the main school sector, where mathematics and English and other languages were taught, the science block where the "labs" were, the sports block, which had two gyms and a field, and the Warehouse. Or what was called the Warehouse by students, but Dick had been into plenty of warehouses (seriously, did villains all have the same real estate agent, or whatever?) and it wasn't really a warehouse. Although, in the sense of it being a house that stored wares, he supposed it was a warehouse. Either way, it was more like some Victorian-era hospital or something. It probably was, but Dick hadn't exactly paid much attention to the school opening ceremony or Bruce's file on the place (other than the blueprints, of course— those could be useful).

It was tucked between the science department and the Warehouse that the vehicles were held. This included a parking lot for students and teachers, but also a place to lock your bikes, tricycles, unicycles, or, in he case of Dick, your skateboard (because you couldn't be bothered to lug it to your locker. It was a reasonable reason to put your skateboard in a reasonable place).

The carpark was empty except for a few cars that belonged to the teachers, most likely, a solitary bike with a broken padlock, and his very own skateboard, known as Crash, because sometimes the back left wheel would twist out of place of its own accord and send him spinning into an inconvenient wall (or Wally, as it had happened the first time. He had been the one to name it). Bruce had offered to replace it, but Dick thought it gave it character.

It was quiet, and he managed to trot undisturbed to his unconventionally attached skateboard.

What he hadn't expected, as he twisted the code into the lock, was to hear a loud crash come from the Warehouse. He leaped out of his skin for a full two seconds before going into Robin mode, taking in the face-value of the Warehouse. Not visibly being attacked, and he wondered for a second if it had been some kind of cat, but no cat could make a sound that big. Sounded more like the size of a tiger, if it was any type of cat he knew. He briefly considered warning B, just to be safe, but.

But it could be a student that had let themselves inside, or maybe had somehow been locked in by some bullies and couldn't get out. More likely than a villain, he supposed. Resigning himself to probably being late to Aunt Diana's lesson, he sighed and plodded over to the strangely new-looking door against the older building.

Taking a breath, he cautiously opened the door, just to be quite safe. Never hurts to overcompensate, according to B. Dick is inclined to agree right now, just in case.

What he sees is not... Well, it's certainly not what he expected. He's seen people do similar things, (heck, he's a superhero, he's seen people do way more impressive things) but it's not really any less of a shock to see a boy walking across the ceiling like it's as normal as crossing the street.

He can't really help the choke that coughs its way up from his throat. He was surprised, and he had every right to be! No matter him having seen weirder; walking across the ceiling upside down is still weird as heck. "What the h–"

He's cut off by a startled yell, the boy jumping in surprise. Unfortunately, what he forgets is that gravity does, in fact, exist, so he comes tumbling all the way down from the roof as soon as his feet leave the ceiling. Dick's training as Robin, even if he shouldn't technically use it at school, kicks in, and he leaps forward to catch the boy before he plunges into the awaiting piles of cardboard boxes, filled with who knows what.

Dick ends up catching the kid in the nick of time, but only by pushing off one of the piles of stacked coloured paper, probably for younger classes to use.

Dick sets him down, panting (because he is Dick Grayson right now, darn it) and they both just sit on top of the stack of coloured paper for a while, trying to catch their bearings. Dick recovers first, of course, but still takes a moment before asking, "What the actual heck _was_ that?"

Now that he's closer, Dick can see the boy's (who is probably actually older than him) brown hair and hazel eyes. Totally normal, not someone Dick could pick out in a crowd, and definitely not someone he's met before. 

The boy chuckled awkwardly, rubbing at his dusty hair, which showed that he'd been here for a while, messing with the mousse. His uniform confirmed that he was part of Gotham Academy, but Dick somehow doubted that with his awkward, slightly dopey smile. He didn't seem that rich.

"W-what was what? Nothing happened there, nothing at all. I was ju–" there's a weird twang to his voice. It doesn't sound like the average Gothamite accent, somehow. A foreigner?

"Really?" Dick couldn't help but ask. "You were on the ceiling!"

The kid's cheek twitched oddly, "Uh... trick of the light?"

That was such a poor excuse, they both winced. Dick sighed, sending an irritated message to whatever higher power that might be listening, and glancing the kid up and down. He didn't look dangerous, or like he could be a villain, so maybe he was just... actually, what was he doing here? 

"I'm, uh..." he scratched his ear awkwardly. "Well, sometimes I just... accidentally stick. To stuff. And I was trying to figure out how to... Y'know..."

"Not stick?" A nod. "Right." Why him? Seriously, does he not have enough in his plate already? —He's going to be so late to Aunt Diana's training. Whatever. He's got to figure this out. She'll understand.

So, he's got some kid here, a metahuman, trying to control his powers in a generally abandoned school building. Which means he's either trying to hide his powers, or not hurt anyone, or both. Which is looking good so far, really, not really villain-type material, like he first thought. 

But then again, it's not exactly unknown that Batman doesn't like metahumans, so why doesn't he leave? Does he _want_ Batman to hunt him down? If he went to this school, he clearly had the resources, unless he got in with a scholarship or something, but that barely ever happened. Only Artemis Barbara and a couple of other guys (he remembered one of them had alliteration in their names, but that's about it) he doesn't really know, but even then Barbara's dad is Commissioner Gordon, and he knows for a fact that Bruce had something to do with Artemis' scholarship. The other guys he's not really sure about, but they probably had someone backing them too. It's a corrupt system, honestly.

"What are you even doing here? Don't you know Batman doesn't like metas in his city? He'd clobber you." Well, he probably wouldn't, but Dick Grayson doesn't know that.

At this, the kid reddens a bit. "I, uh... I only got here on a scholarship. I don't have the money for... something like that." No way. What are the chances that it's one of the, what, three? Poor kids in the entire school. But surely he still has someone backing him to get in here? It must have shown on his face, because the kid explained. "My dad was a, uh... a scientist. Richard Parker."

Wait, Richard Parker? The biologist that made giant leaps in the realms of biology? _That_ Richard Parker? Well, that at least explained how he got in. He'd seen the guy in Bruce's files, he died ages ago in a plane crash with his wife, leaving only their son behind.

But then, this must be... "Peter Parker." Peter held out his hand and smiled in what was probably supposed to be a friendly way, but really just looked anxious and awkward. Dick held out his own hand.

"Dick Grayson," he smiled as reassuringly as possible, but Peter looked like he was two seconds away from a nervous breakdown. And honestly, Dick would probably be in the same state if someone found out he was a meta in Gotham city. Bruce was a hero, but he was also very conscious of how easily people could become villains. Dick wasn't keen on following the same route. "Hey, how about we sit?"

Peter practically collapsed on the neat stack of green paper beneath him. Dick took a more elegant approach to his stack of pink paper. There was a small silence, where Peter tried to keep his breathing under control and Dick tried to exude some kind of reassuring energy or whatever. He wasn't great at this, okay? Geez.

When Peter looked a little less like he was about to start hyperventilating any minute, Dick finally decided to breach the subject that they were both kind of avoiding. "So... what now?" Well, that wasn't much of a breach, but they both knew what he meant.

"You can't tell anyone!" Peter was quick to put in. "We don't have the money to move again. Like you said, I'd get _clobbered_ by Batman."

He kind of had to stop and consider this for a second. As Robin, it was his obligation to tell Batman. They were partners, that's what they did, but... What would be the point? Peter can't leave, if what he said is true. Not without living on the streets somewhere in a weird city he doesn't know. And Bruce Wayne can't pay for them to move without people asking questions. What's the harm in him staying, anyway? He's probably not going to become a villain, and sticking to walls isn't exactly a dangerous superpower, like super speed or mind control. It'd be fine, probably. He'd be able to observe Peter okay like this, anyway, so he'd most likely catch any warning signs.

He looked at Peter, who was watching him warily but earnestly. He seemed genuine enough. 

"... Fine."

"You have to promise!" Dick raised a brow.

"Really?"

Peter nodded seriously, but he was clearly relieved from the way his shoulders had sagged and the tension had left him like a deflating air mattress. "Go on. You have to."

Dick grinned, holding out his hand again. "Pinky swear."

Peter grinned back, practically a twin to Dick's in a way Dick had only ever seen Wally manage. "Pinky swear."

**Author's Note:**

> Again... I didn't update the Asexual Dick series, (or the Wooden Tongue one) but this is a lot of fun. I like doing these weird little AUs and stuff. Right now I'm just writing whatever I feel like, and this popped into my head, so that's what I wrote.
> 
> Hopefully the characterisation went well. It's not my first time writing Peter, but I don't remember it going very well then, either, so who knows?
> 
> Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed!


End file.
